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Słowik inspiruje
Słowik inspiruje
Inspiring
January 26, 2025
Question

Issue with viewing "Before" photo after Importing .xmp metadata in Lightroom Classic

  • January 26, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 314 views

I've encountered an issue in Lightroom Classic (version 14.1.1) on Mac OS 15.2.0 when using the \ key to toggle between edited and unedited states of a photo. After importing an .xmp file with previously saved edits into the RAW folder and syncing the metadata, the \ key no longer displays the original, unedited version of the photo as it did before.

Below are the detailed steps to reproduce the issue, along with the expected behavior and what actually happens. To illustrate the problem, I’ve also included a link to a video demonstration:
https://youtu.be/jZCF08MaPb0

Has anyone else experienced this or found a solution?

Steps to Reproduce:

  1. Import a photo into the application.
  2. Make some adjustments to the photo.
  3. Press the \ key to view the "before" version of the photo (i.e., without edits).
  4. Place an .xmp file containing previously saved edits into the RAW folder and import the metadata from the .xmp file.
  5. Press the \ key again to view the "before" version.

Issue:

After importing the metadata and edits from the .xmp file, pressing the \ key no longer displays the original, unedited version of the photo.

Expected Result:

When metadata and edits are imported from an .xmp file, pressing the \ key should display the original, unedited photo as it was at the time of import.

Lightroom Classic: 14.1.1 [ 202412150940-551fb044 ]

Mac OS 15.2.0 [24C101]

    1 reply

    D
    drtonyb
    Legend
    January 27, 2025

    @Słowik inspiruje 

     

    This is 'as designed'. Importing settings from .xmp sets a new 'before' state to the settings from the .xmp file.

     

    If you want to restore the old 'before', click the Import step at the bottom of the History, right-click and select 'Copy History Step Settings to Before', then select the top step again and \ will show what it did originally.

     

      Słowik inspiruje
      Słowik inspirujeAuthor
      Inspiring
      January 27, 2025

      That may be "as designed," but it significantly complicates workflows, especially when importing .xmp files for a large number of photos (e.g., 100 images). Manually selecting each photo, navigating to the history panel, and setting a new "before" state for every single image is incredibly tedious and time-consuming.

      Is there any way to streamline this process or prevent Lightroom from resetting the "before" state automatically when importing .xmp files? This limitation creates unnecessary friction in otherwise efficient editing workflows.

      Thanks,
      Paweł Słowik
      www.slowik.eu

      M
      Mark34144072u3a7
      Known Participant
      October 10, 2025

      Any mass editing solution for this? Im just migrating thousands of photos to a new machine and its not really feasible to fix this one by one 
      i would appreciate some help 

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